Juliet
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "What made you change your mind?" She arched an eyebrow, "All it takes is one Potter wearing green and silver for Slytherin house to not seem evil anymore?" "That's not what I meant," I tried to protest, but she was already bidding goodbye to Albus and walking away with Scorpius by her side.
1. Juliet

_FIRST YEAR – SORTING CEREMONY_

James Sirius' POV

Merlin, I should have listened to Dad's advice. He had told me that the sorting ceremony would take a while but I had underestimated just how long it would take. I was growing bored – quickly at that. Taking a look around at the other first years, I couldn't help but frown when I realised that they weren't growing as restless as I was.

"Which house are you hoping to end up in?" The question wasn't asked by me, or even to me, and I had no idea why I suddenly picked up on the conversation of two of the girls standing in front of me.

The smaller girl, the person the question had actually been asked to, shrugged her shoulders and said quietly, "I'm not hoping for any house in particular."

"But there must be one," the first girl insisted and I looked between the two of them.

Didn't they know that the obvious answer to the question was Gryffindor? Merlin, girls claimed to know more than boys did, and yet this girl couldn't answer even the simplest of questions.

"Slytherin, maybe," the second girl said offhandedly and I frowned, scrunching my nose up at her answer. Why the hell would she want to end up in the snake pit? Fred, standing beside me, nudged me with his shoulder as if to tell me I was being nosy but I didn't care.

"Slytherin?" the first girl echoed with not enough shock, in my opinion.

"Both my parents were in Slytherin, you see," the second girl explained, turning to face the first and giving me the slightest of glimpses of her side profile. Her lips curved up into a smile and I found my eyes drawn to the movement – for a possible snake, she sure was pretty. "There's no problem with that, is there?"

"Of course not," the other girl whose face I was yet to see assured her, reaching out to squeeze her hand, "My parents always told me that the house rivalry stuff was rubbish and not to buy into any of it. Whether you're a good person or not isn't defined by your house but by your behaviour."

"I'm glad you think so," the potential Slytherin squeezed her hand back, "My parents were a bit worried about people judging me by my last name."

"Only stupid people judge by last name." I watched the tension ease out of the first girl's shoulders at the words, "Believe me."

"Alice Longbottom," at the sound of her name, the first girl approached the hat, but not before giving her friend one last smile.

The second girl, now left alone, faced the front and watched Longbottom get sorted. I couldn't help myself, really I couldn't. Before I realised what I was doing, I stepped closer to her and leaned closer to whisper in her ear, "Oi."

She jumped slightly at the sudden whisper but didn't turn back to look at me. Instead, she whispered back, "What?"

"You really shouldn't want to be in Slytherin," I advised with all the good in my heart.

And just like that, the tension was back but she asked calmly, "And why is that?"

"Because Slytherins are evil."

She turned to face me then – giving me full view of her face and I drew back in mild shock. She really _was_ very pretty. Clearly her throat primly, she brought my attention back to her and I watched the way she assessed me with cool eyes.

"Slytherins are evil," she repeated calmly, appearing the picture of boredom. Her eyes flickered up to my hair, taking in the characteristic mess I'd inherited from dad, before looking at my eyes – mum's. She raised an eyebrow, "You're a Potter."

It wasn't a question but I puffed my chest out in pride anyway, "Damn right I am – the son of the boy-who-lived."

Without another word, she turned back to the front and watched as the sorting progressed. I wanted to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention again but decided against it. I settled for frowning at her back – why wasn't she impressed? Everyone else had been and they had scrambled to become my friend straightaway at even the mention of my surname.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't even hear what her name was as she walked up to the front of the hall and sat on the stool. Whatever her name was, it clearly caused a stir as some of the first years began to mutter and whisper at just the sound of her name. My frown deepened as I looked back to the girl who was sitting patiently, talking quietly to the sorting hat placed atop of her hair.

After a moment's deliberation, the hat called out, "Slytherin!"

The girl, unfazed by the decision, hopped off from the stool and approached the table where she was greeted warmly. I shook my head; she'd been lost to the snakes now.

"It was bound to happen really," Fred muttered from beside me, making me turn away from her.

"What do you mean?" I gave my cousin a curious look.

"Well she's a Malfoy, isn't she?"

* * *

 _THIRD YEAR_

The year had finally come to an end and usually I would have run though the platform to find my parents so we could hurry home and to get a quick start to the summer holiday. But, Albus had just finished his first year and I wanted to wait for him like a good brother. Ok, so maybe my reasons were a bit more selfish than that. Albus had quickly become friends with Scorpius Malfoy who always shared a carriage with his older sister and her friends. Wherever Albus was, Scorpius was sure to be with him and wherever Scorpius was, his sister was bound to be there too.

I hung back by one of the exits of the train and sure enough, Albus came walking down the compartment towards the exit where I was standing and beside him was Scorpius. His sister trailed after the pair of them, talking animatedly to Alice who laughed at whatever she had said.

"James?" Albus asked curiously when he finally laid eyes on me. "What are you doing?"

I pretended not to notice the way that Scorpius' sister's steps slowed at the sound of my name. Her eyes flickered in my direction, losing all warmth from them before she looked back to Alice and the warmth returned. Merlin, the big mouth I had in first year made this all so much harder.

"Waiting for you of course," I said throwing an arm over his shoulder which he shrugged out of. "Can't I do that?"

"You can," Albus agreed as we all stepped off from the train, "But it's not like you to."

"You clearly don't know me well enough." I remarked, without even looking at Albus. Instead I watched her bid goodbye to Alice.

"I grew up with you," Albus threw back dryly.

As Alice walked away from us, she stood awkwardly at the side looking between her brother and Albus. She wouldn't even _look_ in my direction.

"And how was your first year, Scorpius?" I asked, turning my eyes onto her younger brother who was much more perceptive than I was comfortable admitting. He looked between me and his older sister with narrowed eyes and I knew then that progress could only be made if I got him onto my side.

"It was fun – eventually," Scorpius answered back, going to say something else when –

"Scorpius," she called out to her younger brother, "I can see mum and dad – we should get going."

Taking the hint, Scorpius moved to his sister's side, pulling his trunk behind him. Bidding a goodbye to Albus, Scorpius went to leave when she set a hand onto his arm. He paused in his step, looking at his sister curiously but she wasn't looking at him. Peering around me, she smiled gently at Albus.

"I hope you enjoyed your first year Albus, we'd love to have you round the Manor again." Even the voice she spoke to Albus in was so different to the one she used when she was speaking to me – which she did so rarely.

"I'll ask mum and dad," Albus said with a smile, "And I'll owl Scorpius."

"Make sure you do." She linked her arm through Scorpius', "And I hope you've realised that us snakes aren't as bad as some people make us seem."

"Of course," I agreed, taking the chance to add in and try and win some of her favour. "After all, Slytherins aren't evil."

It had seemed like the right thing to say, right? Well, I was wrong. She raised her eyes to mine and I could see them chill over.

"What made you change your mind?" She arched an eyebrow, "All it takes is one Potter wearing green and silver for Slytherin house to not seem evil anymore?"

"That's not what I meant," I tried to protest, but she was already bidding goodbye to Albus and walking away with Scorpius by her side.

When they were out of earshot, Albus let out the laughter he had been struggling to hide. I frowned, punching him in the arm, before we set off and headed down the platform where the entire extended family was waiting to apparate straight to grandma Weasley's.

"It's not funny," I grumbled under my breath, "How was I supposed to know that she was going to hold a grudge for so long?"

"Maybe this'll teach you not to insult girls you have a crush on?" Albus suggested, still chuckling despite the dark glare I threw his way.

"What's she like anyway?" I asked deciding to try and get some information out of him. One good thing about Albus' friendship with her brother was that Albus spent so much time in her presence and by association, so did I.

"She's never going to give you the time of day," he said bluntly and I threw him a glare.

"That wasn't what I asked you."

"I think she's one of the reasons that Scorpius is as spoiled as he is," Albus admitted, "She gives him everything he wants – and does the same for me whenever I'm at the Manor."

"Like what?"

"You're so nosy," Albus muttered but complied anyway. "There's this rule in the Manor where no one asks the house-elves to do stuff after 9pm so they can get enough sleep or something. And we wanted a midnight snack and all it took was Scorpius knocking on her door, for her to head into the kitchen to make us a snack. She isn't like _some_ people who would have hit me if I'd asked."

"Then you should have been born with an older sister, not an older brother," I remarked, waving at dad as we approached them. He waved back and gestured for us to hurry up.

"Sometimes I wish she was my older sister. I'd trade her out for you in a heartbeat James."

"You'll just have to settled for having her as your sister-in-law," I patted him on the back, frowning when he snorted. "What?"

"Good luck with that."

I was going to need it.

* * *

 _FOURTH YEAR_

Another year had come to an end and I hadn't made any progress. I'd even resorted to getting Albus to big me up whenever he was around her and that resulted in her writing a letter for Albus to give me during the Christmas holiday as my Christmas present. The news had excited me, making me think that I'd finally gotten somewhere until I realised that the letter was a howler and she'd said in no uncertain words that she had no interest in me and would never.

She'd even compared me to a flobberworm. Me! How she thought that my face could possibly belong to a flobberworm was beyond me and I was worried that there was something wrong with her eyesight. Wearing glasses ran in my family and if she needed to wear glasses too then our children were doomed to inherit bad eyesight.

But I was getting ahead of myself.

Something else had also happened during the year which made both the Malfoy brother and sister retreat into themselves. I struggled against the overwhelming urge to go and comfort her but I knew that any comfort I offered her wouldn't be welcome. Just this once I decided to listen to Albus' words and did nothing. It was at the end of the school year when Scorpius approached Albus, alone for once, that we found out it was because their mother had passed away.

I couldn't ever imagine that happening to me and I asked Scorpius where she was so I could offer her my condolences and offer her my shoulder. Her brother had thrown me a flat look and told me that now wasn't the time. Why was it that both Malfoys weren't able to see how serious I was?

Our family attended the funeral and that was the first time I had seen our fathers interact. Usually when Albus was dropped off at the Manor, or Scorpius was dropped off at our home, it was Scorpius' mother who was with him. The two older men spoke quietly to each other and Albus made a beeline for Scorpius who met him with a brave face. I stood beside mum and Lily, searching the crowd for her and I eventually found her. She was resting her head on Alice's shoulder, dried out from crying as the two girls sat isolated from everyone else.

Ignoring the voice in the back of my head that told me it was a bad idea, I approached her as I saw her eyes fill with tears once again. Alice looked up at the sound of my approaching footsteps but I shook my head, telling her to say nothing as I stood on the other side of her. She paid no attention to my presence, not even looking up to see who I was as she sniffled back her tears.

"You should let them fall," I advised gently, not even sure if she could hear my voice at all, as I pulled out a handkerchief from my suit pocket. I held it out for her to take, "Bottling the tears up will make it harder for you to eventually move on."

She said nothing of my advice but took the outstretched handkerchief from me with a muttered, "Thank you."

Straightening up, she dabbed away her tears and I left before she could see my face. I didn't need to make her more upset than she already was.

We hung around as the funeral drew to a close because Albus wanted to stay beside Scorpius. Mum and Lily headed home and I shook my head when mum offered to take me along with her. The rain was pouring outside and once Mrs Malfoy had been buried, we had all headed back inside as the last of the guests started to leave. I found myself looking around the room for her again – it must have been the hundredth time I'd done it since we'd arrived.

"Where's your sister?" I asked the boy sitting next to me who stiffened at the question.

He raised angry eyes to mine as Albus cautioned from the other side of him, "James."

"I'm worried about her," I insisted sincerely and somehow, in some way, it had carried across to Scorpius, whose eyes lost their heat.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, and with that I was off my feet, looking for her.

I had circled the room twice, looking for her and had searched the entire building for her but there was no sign of her. Coming to a stop beside the entrance, I let out a worried breath before looking at the door apprehensively. Surely, she wasn't –

Taking one of the umbrellas that were lying around, I stepped out into the rain and made my way towards Mrs Malfoy's resting place. And sure enough, there she was, crouched beside the tombstone. As I drew closer to her, I could see the way her shoulders were shaking with her tears and I contemplated leaving her alone, but how could I when the stupid girl didn't have an umbrella with her?

She was soaked through, not that she cared. Closing the distance between us with quick steps, I stood over her, covering her with the umbrella. Realising that something had changed, she wiped her tears away quickly and looked up into my face. Scrambling to her feet, she glanced away from me.

"I wasn't –"

"Did I say anything?" I asked quietly, noticing the way she was shivering from the cold.

Either she knew she was shivering and was acting strong or she had long since stopped noticing that she was shaking. I didn't know which was worse. Handing her the umbrella, I shrugged out of my suit jacket before taking it back and thrusting the jacket into her arms. She went to protest, trailing off at the look I gave her.

"Save your pride Malfoy, you're freezing. Just put it on." She complied instantly, slipping her arms into the jacket before we walked side by side to head back inside to find her father pacing restlessly.

At the sight of his daughter, he hurried to take her into his arms, looking over her from head to toe to make sure she was alright. His eyes settled on my jacket and Mr Malfoy finally looked at me, making me shuffle under the weight of his stare. It was like he could see through me. But he nodded his head in thanks and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding.

I looked away awkwardly, starting when I realised that Albus was by my side. He frowned. "What?"

"Half of your shoulder is wet," he explained.

"It's nothing," I insisted. I just hadn't noticed that I was getting wet by the rain – I had been too focused on making sure that no more rain fell on her.

* * *

 _FIFTH YEAR_

Fifth year arrived and with it came the hope that I had made some sort of progress with her but that hope crashed and burned within the first week or so. Of course she wasn't as cold towards me as she had been before, but she wasn't exactly receptive towards my advances. Every single relative of mine that was in Hogwarts practically pissed themselves with laughter when they realised that I was pining after the only girl in Hogwarts who wouldn't give me the time of day. Bloody tossers.

When the Christmas holiday came, I made up my mind that I was going to throw away the last of my pride and tell her how I felt – officially. She could decide what happened from there. If she returned my feelings – because girls are confusing and she _could_ be playing hard to get – then we could start dating. But if she didn't well, then I wasn't going to give up. After all, I was my father's son. If there was one thing that hearing stories about him drilled into my head, it was that even when you're in a situation where there's no hope, there's always a way to turn it around. I'd just have to find that way.

I met Albus by the fireplace as we waited for dad, and just at the sight of me standing beside the fireplace, Albus rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you're coming along?"

"Of course I am," I glanced at the bag set by his feet, "How long are you going for this time?"

"A couple of days." He shrugged before sighing, "Whatever you're thinking about doing James, don't."

"Why not?" I asked defensively, crossing my arms over my chest, "You don't even know what I'm going to do."

"Whatever it is – don't." He mirrored my body language; crossing his arms and giving me a firm look, "Scorpius says she's not coping well and she doesn't need you there to annoy her about random stuff."

"What do you mean she's not coping?" I asked, my concern overriding the annoyance I felt at his words.

"Exactly that. Scorpius says she's quietened down a lot and gone into herself."

"And why –"

"Are you ready to go, Al?" Dad asked as he walked into the room, looking curiously at me, "Are you coming along James?"

At my nod, he looked away from me to hide the knowing smile tugging at his lips. I didn't know why he was being so smiley – Aunt Mione had told me _all_ about how 'smooth' our dad used to be when he was at school. At least I knew that I was definitely better than him. Not much better, but still better.

Without another word, dad let us use the floo before him and moments later we were all standing in the Manor. It was my first time in the Malfoy home and I looked around, wondering if it had always been so gloomy? Or was the house reflecting the emotions of its occupants?

"How have you been Harry?" Mr Malfoy asked as he approached dad and they both shook hands.

"I've been well." Dad looked over Mr Malfoy before asking seriously, "And how have you been Draco?"

"Coping," he answered with a hesitant smile and the two men walked away, leaving us with the Malfoy children.

"It's good to have you back Albus," she said gently as she approached us, eyes moving towards me. "James."

"I was curious," I explained as our younger brothers walked away and up the stairs, "I thought I'd come and see the Manor that Albus kept raving about."

"And how is our home?" She started to walk away and I found myself following her.

"It's beautiful," I answered truthfully and she nodded in response. Beautiful but in pain.

I found myself following her into the kitchen and sat down at one of the stools lined up beside the aisle. She moved around the kitchen in silence, the house-elves moving out of her way as she did something. I soon realised that she was making sandwiches.

"What's the real reason you're here?" she asked, cutting the sandwiches in half. Raising her eyes to mine, she raised an eyebrow, "And I want the truth."

"I was worried about you."

Setting the knife down on the counter, she plated the sandwiches, not looking at me as she asked, "Why?"

I let out a deep breath; it was now or never.

"I think I'm falling in love with you," I admitted, wondering if she could hear the fear in my voice. My words made her pause. "And it's so completely ridiculous because I didn't think it _was_ possible to fall in love at 15 years old."

She didn't say anything straight away. Looking at the house-elves, she waited for them to disappear before she said anything. Even then, she kept moving around the kitchen for a while before she spoke.

"I don't believe you," her voice was soft.

"What do you mean?" I furrowed my eyebrows, "How can you not believe me?"

"You want what you're not supposed to have." she explained as if she knew everything that I was feeling better than I did. But I knew she was forcing the words to come out because the way she was speaking, her tone of voice, wasn't her normal one. It was the one she used when she was hiding behind her shield.

"What I'm not supposed to have?" I echoed, wanting to see how far she would take this.

"I'm a Malfoy, you're a Potter." She waved her hand dismissively. "It's like a kink and frankly, I don't fancy indulging yours."

"You're joking –"

"Look Potter." Her eyes rooted me to my spot, "Just because our brothers are friends, it doesn't mean that we're anything more than acquaintances. If you got to know me, you wouldn't want to date me. Trust me."

With that, she turned her back to me and called out, "Minty."

One of the house-elves reappeared beside her. Plating the sandwiches and putting the plate on a tray, she handed the tray to the house-elf. But not before she set two glasses of juice onto the same tray.

"This is for Scorpius and Albus."

"Yes miss." The house-elf disappeared and not once did she look in my direction again. Not even when she plated up the third sandwich and set it in front of me.

* * *

 _SIXTH YEAR_

She must have thought that her words would dissuade me from pursuing her any more, but she was wrong. Because after all, all she had done was tell me the truth; we weren't friends. But if that's what it took, then becoming friends with her was what I would do. And I _am_ James Sirius Potter and I accomplish anything I put my mind to, this included. I had made it my goal to become friends with her in my sixth year.

And I did. Well, maybe not friends – but through my sheer persistence alone, we had become _friendly_ and it was only a short jump to actually becoming friends. Not that becoming friends was my final goal.

Now, with my sixth year at school also drawing to a close, I had decided that we had become friendly enough for me to ask her out. I knew that over the course of the year I had managed to change her opinion of me through caring gestures and well, Scorpius was on my side so that had to help. Once I had overcome the hurdle that was Scorpius – and he was a bigger hurdle than I had originally anticipated – getting closer to her was easier. Because Scorpius trusted me, so did she.

We had boarded the train a couple of hours ago and I carefully counted the time down, nervously bouncing my knee up and down as I waited for the trolley lady to walk past the carriage I was currently in. She walked past just in time.

"Anything from the trolley, loves?" she asked in the open doorway.

I jumped to my feet, following Fred as he bought some food from the trolley. When my turn came, I ordered a chocolate frog and some jelly slugs before announcing to Fred that I had something to do. I could tell that even from the vague tone of my voice he knew that it had something to do with the older Malfoy – after all, he had been my dormmate for six years now and had to sit through me 'almost constantly' talking about her. Hell, he even told me that I had a different tone reserved for talking about her alone. Originally I had discarded his words as being teasing, and didn't think anything of it, but perhaps there had been some truth to it.

Stepping out of the carriage, I walked down the train and in the direction of the carriage she always occupied. Sure enough, when I looked into the carriage, I found her inside talking to Alice. Scorpius and Albus sat across from the pair of them, talking between themselves. Scorpius looked down at his watch before looking in the doorway and finding me standing there. Nudging Albus with his elbow, he rose to his feet and waited for Albus to do the same.

Together they left the carriage and went to pass me, but not before Scorpius leaned in close to whisper in my ear, "If you're not being serious about her and are playing around Potter, I'm going to hunt you down. And just so you know – I know a spell to magically castrate someone."

With those utterly terrifying words, the two best friends walked further down the train and ducked into another carriage. Steeling myself, I knocked on the carriage door, making the two women that were inside look at me curiously. Alice gestured for me to step inside and I did so, knowing that she'd find an excuse to leave soon. After all, she was in on the plan too.

"What are you doing here James?" she asked as Alice rose to her feet, preparing to leave.

"I thought I'd come and find someone that I could actually hare a proper conversation with," the lie was effortless. "Fred fell asleep as soon as we got onto the train. So, if you don't mind?"

"Go ahead." She gestured to the seats that both of our brothers had just vacated. I settled myself down when she asked, "Alice, where are you going?"

"I need to go and talk to that annoying boyfriend of mine," Alice explained with a roll of her eyes and something told me she wasn't lying.

Without explaining any further, Alice left the carriage and I took the opportunity to hand the jelly slugs over to her and she looked down at the package in surprise.

"Scorpius said they're your favourite," I explained, looking away from her to open my chocolate frog in an attempt to hide the red creeping up my neck. "Anyway, I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"I guessed as much." She sounded like she was smiling. I looked tentatively up at her and sure enough, she was smiling at me. She glanced down at the jelly slugs to open the package before looking back to me. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"It's actually about something you said before." She tilted her head curiously and I took a breath to steady myself. "You said that if I got to know you I wouldn't want to date you." I trailed off, letting her understand the words and realise what it was that I wanted to talk to her about.

"James –"

"Well those words aren't true," I carried on, knowing from past experience, that if I let her start talking now, then I'd never get a word in edgeways. This time I was going to say everything. "I know you – I've gotten to know you, despite you trying to not make that happen and I still think I'm in love with you. A year later and I'm still in love with you and I don't want you belittling my feelings for you by labelling them as a … as a _kink_."

She regarded me silently. Most girls would have looked away nervously, or even in embarrassment but not her. She met my eyes head on, her own giving noting away whilst mine showed her just how truthful I was being.

"And what is it that you want?" she asked quietly then, setting the jelly slugs aside. "You've told me what you don't want but what is it that you want from me, James?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I spluttered, "I want to date you, eventually marry you – go the whole nine yards and then some."

She didn't say anything. And I didn't expect her to. I knew she'd take her time to think, work her way through any mental confusion she had and _then_ she'd talk. So I waited patiently and just when I saw the shift in her expression, just when she opened her mouth to talk –

The train horn sounded; we'd arrived.

She hurried to her feet, not listening to my attempts to try and slow her down a little bit. "I've got to go."

* * *

If she thought I was just going to let it go then she had another thing coming. I wasn't prepared to wait until the end of the summer holiday to confront her again, but I also wasn't prepared to storm into her home and demand answers. Her father was rather intimidating. Not to mention the fact that I didn't put it past Scorpius to use that castration spell.

But my opportunity arrived when Albus was to spend some of the holiday at Malfoy Manor – again. I took the opportunity presented and went along with dad to drop Albus off and just like last time, the three of us were greeted by the three Malfoys. At the sight of me, the only female Malfoy shifted uncomfortably on her feet and some part of me was puffing its chest out that I was able to knock down that façade of perfect control.

Our dads headed off to discuss something and our brothers headed upstairs like they always did, leaving us alone in the sitting room, sat on separate sofas and facing each other. She glanced around the sitting room, unsure of what to do and I revelled in it. Even if she told me that she felt nothing for me, I wouldn't believe her, not when her actions told me otherwise.

"How's your summer been?" I asked, taking pity on her and deciding to talk about something else before I got to the point.

Her evident shock that I hadn't brought up our last conversation, lasted all of a second before she schooled her facial expression. "It's been good – there's been no homework to do and Alice spent a week or so here." She cleared her throat. "How about you?"

"It's been good, a bit boring, but good." She nodded, glancing around the room again so she didn't need to look at me. "I've just been overwhelmed by this niggling annoyance at an unanswered question."

"Oh?" she asked needlessly – we both knew what I was referring to but she continued to play dumb. It really didn't suit her. "A question?"

"A question that I've been waiting for an answer to." I felt my lips pull into a smirk when she finally met my eyes, her mask back in place. She raised an eyebrow, "Do you think I'll get an answer to my question?"

"You didn't ask me a question," she responded, coolly. I chuckled slightly – I should have known.

"Not in words, no," I agreed. "But I didn't think I needed to. Although, would you like me to ask you?"

"That's not necessary." She shook her head before asking curiously, "And what if I don't give you an answer? What if I don't choose to say yes, or no and decide not to say anything at all?"

"I'm not leaving until I get an answer," I declared, leaning back in my seat.

I think she underestimated just how hard-headed us Potters were and besides, I was also half Weasley. The blood coursing through my veins belonged to two of the most stubborn families around. There was no way in hell that I was leaving here without an answer.

"So we're just going to sit here in silence then?" She was quickly becoming exasperated, "Because I'm not planning on giving you an answer."

"I guess we are."

A minute ticked by. Followed by another. Ten minutes passed like that, and then –

"Why is this so important to you anyway?" she asked quietly, hesitantly. "You could brush this all under a rug and move on to one of the girls lined up to date you because of who your father is."

"I don't want one of them." I said just as quietly, "I want you."

"We don't always get what we want."

"I know that." I straightened up, leaning towards her with my elbows resting on my knees. I wouldn't risk scaring her off by invading her personal space. "You let something I said in first year form your opinion of me and I've spent the last five years trying to make up for that. Why won't you let me fix the mistake I made unknowingly?"

"Because I grew up with people saying things like that." She crossed her arms, "My dad still has his dark mark because there's no known curse to get rid of it – everyone sees that and declares him evil. But none of you know that he took it to stop the death of his mother. Without a single thought, you declared my mother, my father, my entire family as being evil."

"I was a child," I insisted with a wince, "Once I was old enough to know better I made sure everyone knew as much. We've gotten closer to – so why can't you just let me love you?"

She raised her eyes to mine and stared at me in silence. I was certain that her eyes were reading into my soul but said nothing and waited for the eventual statement she'd make.

"Because I'm losing everyone I love." She rubbed at her arms as though she was cold and I rose to my feet then, closing the distance between us to sit beside her. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and she said nothing. "I lost mum, I feel like I'm losing dad and –"

"You won't ever lose me," I swore firmly, unable to suppress the instinct to kiss her anymore. I settled for pressing my lips to her temple, feeling the way she took in a breath at the action.

"You can't promise me that."

"Try me," I stated confidently, making her look up at me with unsure eyes. "You clearly don't know us Potter men, love. Once we find a woman and make her ours, she's stuck with us forever. You won't be able to lose me even if you tried."

"James –"

"So," I tucked some of her hair behind her ear, "Will you let me love you?"

She bit down on her bottom lip, eyes widening in surprise when I brushed my thumb against her lower lip to get her to release it. With one last search of my eyes, she made up her mind.

She nodded.


	2. Epilogue

_3 YEARS LATER_

I was beginning to think that the Malfoy family had mine beat in terms of stubbornness. First it took years to get Scorpius on my side, and it took almost my entire time at school to win over his sister. The only one left was their father. Their father who couldn't stand the idea that his darling daughter was being 'corrupted' by me. And whether that was true or not depended on his definition of corrupted.

I mean, in my opinion, I had successfully managed to get her to loosen up. Not that Mr Malfoy appreciated me having any sort of impact on his daughter – even if it was a good one. But I was determined to win him over. I would do it – eventually, just like I had won both his children over.

"James?" Mum called out from the hallway, trying to get me to come down the stairs. "You're going to be late."

"Just a minute, mum," I called back to her, looking over my clothes one last time.

Mr Malfoy was determined to pick out the flaws in everything I did. The last time I had visited his home – dress rather appropriately, even if I said so myself – he had accused me of trying to show my chest off because my two top buttons were undone. I didn't want him to find any flaw in my clothes again – especially because I was spending the night at the Manor.

Merlin, he was going to skin me alive.

"You can stop your worrying, you know," an all too familiar voice called from the doorway, bringing an instant smile to my face.

I turned to look at her, watching as she walked towards me. "I told you I'd be down soon."

"I didn't trust you," she said with a smile, running a hand through my hair and laughing gently at the irritated look I threw her way. "You were probably contemplating running away. My dad's not that scary."

"That's easy for you to say – you're his daughter."

"I am." Taking my hand in hers, she started to lead me away from the mirror and towards the door. "So, hurry up already."

"Give me a second."

Taking my hand out of hers, I grabbed my overnight bag before accompanying her downstairs. We walked, hand in hand, towards the floo where mum was waiting for us. Mum didn't even try to hide her grin at the sight of us holding hand – Merlin, she was embarrassing.

"We should get going now, Mrs Potter," she said quietly, coming to a stop in front of mum. "I promise I'll return him to you in one piece."

"Oh, please – your father's harmless. He always has been." Mum rolled her eyes at the look of disbelief I gave her; Mr Malfoy could _never_ be harmless. "But you should hurry along now before he starts to think that we kept you for ourselves – which I am very tempted to do."

"Um." She shuffled awkwardly on her feet.

Seeing this, I rolled my eyes, "Mum you're getting _way_ too ahead of yourself."

At least when I thought of things like that I didn't say them in front of her! Approaching the fireplace, we travelled promptly to her home. Her father was already waiting, standing in front of the fireplace with crossed arms, ready to greet us. She stumbled out of the fireplace before me and I followed shortly after her, using an arm around her waist to steady her.

"Remove your arm, Potter," her father ordered, voice cold and I'd never taken my hands off of her so quickly.

Being the traitor that she was, she went readily into her father's arm when he offered her a hug. I stood awkwardly, watching my girlfriend hug her father who was glaring at me from over her shoulder. When they parted, he kept her by his side and I cleared my throat, looking around the Manor.

"Why don't you go and get settled in?" she suggested, clearly trying to ease some of the tension in the room.

"That sounds like a good idea," her father agreed, surprising me. "I've had Minty clear one of the guestrooms – _far_ away from my daughter's room." I knew it was too good to be true. "Is there a problem with that, Potter?"

"Of course not, sir."

"Good." He looked over me from head to toe, "Now follow me – I'll show you where you'll be staying."

After throwing a silent look at my girlfriend, I trailed after her father as he led me through the Manor and to the room I was spending the night in. He opened the door, gesturing for me to enter first. Stepping into the room, I looked around with curious eyes.

Before I could say a word, Mr Malfoy warned, "There's wards placed around my daughter's room that'll alert me if you try and enter it. You won't like what I do to you if you try it, Potter."

"I swear, I won't try anything –"

"You had better not – I promised your father I'd send you back without a scratch but I can't promise that if you try and trick the wards. Is that understood?"

I swallowed nervously, "Yes sir."

"Good. Don't get too comfortable here – dinner is at 8."

With that he shut the door behind him and I let out a sigh, throwing myself on the bed. Had her father always been so intimidating? Had he become more set on intimidating me when he realised I was dating his only daughter? Or had I only noticed just how scary he was once we had started dating?

I sat up at the sound of the door opening, expecting it to be Mr Malfoy with some more scary words. But it wasn't. It was someone much more beautiful. Godric I was whipped – even the sight of her had me smiling like a fool.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, watching as she shut the door behind her.

"What does it look like?" She walked towards me, "I snuck in."

"But the wards –"

"There aren't any around your room," she informed me, settling onto my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. "Dad could never imagine that his princess would be the one to sneak into her boyfriend's room."

"You're going to get me killed," I groaned, dropping my head into her neck.

"Well you'll die a happy man." I grinned, pressing a kiss to her neck that had her giggling. "Besides, don't take what dad says too seriously – he's like a fluffy teddy in reality."

I snorted, "That's about as true as the fact that I'm ugly."

"Well," she bit down on her lower lip, "I hadn't wanted to say anything, but since you brought it up yourself –"

"Nice try, love."


End file.
